1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a personal floatation device, which can be worn as a garment by an individual, especially a child, in a manner which insures that the wearer's head will be maintained above water should the person enter water in circumstances where that person might be injured or drown.
2. Description of the Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 3,144,668 discloses a child's safety play suit including a single front two-ply panel and two rear two-ply panes form three respective compartments with three separate buoyant pads located in respective two-ply panels. Each buoyant pad comprises an envelope in turn containing a buoyant material mass. Therefore a number of pockets or compartments must be formed making this garment relatively labor intensive to fabricate. The buoyant panels also do not extend continuously beneath the armpits nor does a single buoyant panel extend over the occupant's shoulders and around the neck. This suit is also joined by snap fastener elements extending down the rear of the suit. This multi-segment configuration could allow the individual floatation foam panels to ride up in water so that the child's face may not be held above water. Buoyancy forces must therefore be transferred to the child's body through the fabric and not directly from the buoyant material to the body.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,184,968 does disclose a floatation device with a one-piece floatation member extending on both the front and rear of the occupant of the swimwear including the floatation member. The floatation member does not extend below the occupant's arms so the flotation member can ride up and will be restrained only by the fabric surrounding the floatation member. Reliance upon the fabric in this way will limit the flexibility of the fabric and can limit the size range of children or others who could wear a suit of this type. Greater stress is also place on the fabric and its seams or stitching, which would seem to limit the useful life of individual garments.
Front and rear floatation members in the device shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,050,753 are joined only by straps extending over an infant's shoulders, and by straps extending along the child's sides. These straps would be even more likely to permit the floatation member to ride up and would offer less assurance that the child's head would be maintained above water.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,956,786 also employs multiple buoyant members, including front and rear hinged collar members as well as bib and back floatation elements extending below the collar and secured to the torso by a strap. These multiple sections can also shift relative to a child's body and it would appear that the hinged collar sections could press into the child's face or push the head forward into water.
None of these prior art floatation devices employ a single buoyant member which directly supports the wearer's upper torso to more reliably serve as a personal floatation device. These prior art devices either do not permit significant expansion of fabric surrounding the floatation members so that each garment can fit occupant's of different sizes, or they rely upon straps that can relax, come undone or uncomfortably bind the wearer so that they are uncomfortable.